WHITE PLAINS, Md. — At 11 years old, Xavier Bean never spoke a word in his life.
"I thought maybe early on, maybe when he was in his crib, that maybe he said, 'ma,'" said Kimberly Bean about her youngest son. "But, he never did."
At an early age Xavier was diagnosed with autism and what doctors called an intellectual disability, and by age 7, severe epilepsy.
"He didn't speak, but he was very loving child and he relied on us pretty much for everything," said Kimberly. "He was our world."
She and her husband Captain Chris Bean with the Charles County Sheriff's Office say their son loved school and the routine it gave him.
"He loved his teachers. He loved school and he loved riding the school bus," said Chris.
"That's why it was so hard when he couldn't go. He was devastated," said Kimberly.
When COVID canceled in-person classes, his parents thought gardening might help Xavier and bought a kit to build one at home.
But when the Chris and Kimberly learned a local shelter needed help for families with no place to live, they decided to donate the garden and buy another for Xavier in the spring.
In may, three days after they dropped off the garden kit, Xavier died unexpectedly in his sleep.
"I never knew until his death how a boy with so many disabilities could affect the whole community," said Chris of his late son. "When he passed, the whole community held us up."
And helped the Beans follow through on the garden for the shelter.
A gift of peace, from a grieving family.
"This garden...it sparks so much," said Sandy Washington with The Lifestyles Center, where the Beans donated the garden.
"We said Xavier never spoke. But Xavier is communicating more now than he ever has," Washington said of his legacy in the garden.
Brenda Yvonne, who is staying at the shelter, agreed.
"Xavier," she said, "God used him through his parents to find a way that we can find a way to cause people to connect one to another."
A garden in honor of a child who never said a word, but whose parents believe is now speaking through its calm.
"Loud and clear," said Chris.
"Just a beautiful place for people that come here who may have given up hope. To give them respite," said Kimberly. "We want to say that hope grows in Charles County."